"Now or never" - Stoke City: Andre Vidigal claim made ahead of January transfer window | OneFootball

We asked our Stoke City fan pundit whether Andre Vidigal should leave the club in January or whether he still has a role to play

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Andre Vidigal has been told it's now or never when it comes to ensuring he has a future at Stoke City after the January transfer window.

The 26-year-old was signed by Alex Neil in the summer of 2023 and made an impressive start to life with the Potters, but he's struggled for minutes this season, particularly after Narcis Pelach's arrival.

Vidigal has appeared in just half of Stoke's Championship fixtures this season, playing just 78 minutes, and he's running out of time to impress Pelach and ensure he remains at the club with the January transfer window just around the corner.

Claim made on Andre Vidigal's future at Stoke City

We asked our Stoke City fan pundit, Sam Harrison, whether he expects Vidigal to depart the club in January given his lack of playing time, or whether he still has a part to play.

Speaking to Football League World, Sam said: "With Andre Vidigal it’s a tough one. He’s obviously a player that Narcis Pelach didn’t bring in.

"He came in last season had a fantastic start, ending the season as the top goalscorer and those games at the start of last season against Rotherham, where he was a standout, but then he kind of not petered out, but he didn’t manage to hit that form again for the latter stages.

"Then during pre-season, this time around, he got a couple of goals to his name, but he hasn’t really knocked on the door in terms of wanting a place in the starting XI.

"You look at who’ve got there, you’ve got Koumas, Junho and Manhoef, all wingers that are similar in the sense of young, hungry players who have a lot of skill and at the moment they’re just a step ahead of him and Pelach has his trust in them.

"It’s one where Vidigal hasn’t shown enough to say that he should be in the starting XI if they’re having a bad game. It’s been cases of where he’s come off the bench in small parts of the game, but he hasn’t managed to have an impact at all, and he hasn’t been able to take the chance at all.

"So it’s not as if he’s not had a chance, it just hasn’t clicked, unfortunately, so in terms of January, maybe it is the right time for him to move on. I think that dictates us bringing in someone else or whatever, because I do think we need that quality off the bench and, unfortunately, at the moment, we haven’t really had that and that is what dictates games in the Championship, having that quality that can just get you over the line.

"With Vidigal it’s a tough one as he was see glimpses of what he’s made of and there’s clearly a good player there who knows where the back of the net is. It’s one of those where if he doesn’t leave, then it’s not like one of those where we’ll go ‘oh he should have left’, he can still hit that form, and he’s still settling into the Championship, so it depends on whether he impresses before January and this Christmas period where Pelach will look to use his squad is Vidigal’s time, so in a way I think it’s now or never.

"This month is a key month and will decide whether he stays or whether Pelach doesn’t see him as part of his plans."

Andre Vidigal could still play an important role for Stoke City

As Vidigal showed when he first arrived, he can be an excellent player at this level, and the fact he was Stoke's top scorer last season shows that he was an important player.

The 26-year-old hasn't been helped this season by missing the opening couple of games, and he's struggled to break into Pelach's plans since returning, putting him in a difficult position.

He's clearly a talented player on his day, and he'll likely be given more of a chance during the festive period with the games set to come thick and fast for Stoke.

As Sam alluded to, this feels like the perfect chance to prove to Pelach that he's a useful member of Stoke's squad and could push for a place in the starting XI moving forward, and if he fails to impress, his time with the Potters could well come to an end.